After computer network hack, Genesee County starts over with new chief information officer

Posted May 24, 2019

Jake May

Genesee County Commissioner David Martin listens on at a Genesee County Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday, April 9, 2018 at the County Administration Building in downtown Flint. Jake May | MLive.com Jake May

GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Genesee County is making big changes in its Information Technology Department and it’s starting at the top.

The county Board of Commissioners agreed Tuesday, May 21, to hire Carl Wilson, an IT manager with Oakland County, to help it rebuild the office that oversees and coordinates all county information resources and software training, including information and data processing, hardware and software, telecommunications and office automation.

Wilson replaces Chris Newell, who resigned from leading the office after the county’s computer network was hacked in an April ransomware attack that locked officials out of some of their own data.

County Board Chairman Ted Henry, a Clayton Township Democrat, said the replacement of the leadership in the IT Department isn’t going to solve all of the problems there.

Henry said software and server updates are overdue and he expects those improvements to cost at least another $1.5 million.

Wilson will earn $150,000 annually, according to the resolution approved by commissioners. His hiring is contingent on a background check and pre-employment physical.

Henry said Wilson was part of a team from Oakland County who helped restore computer services here in the weeks following the cyber attack.

The chairman said the salary is about $40,000 more than the previous director earned.

In addition to hiring Wilson, commissioners earlier this month upgraded another top position in the Information Technology Department, changing a“lead technical position” to “cyber security and technical architect” and increasing the salary for the job by approximately $10,000 annually -- to $109,000 per year.

County Board Coordinator Josh Freeman has said plans to make changes and to reorganize the IT Department overall have been in the works since before the ransomware attack.